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This summer I interned at Union Memorial Hospital. There I worked on a project with the Director of Infectious Disease: Dr. Wayne Campbell. Our task was testing to see how well ICU rooms are disinfected. We did this by culturing the room after the custodians cleaned it and culturing it again after we cleaned the room using a hydrogen peroxide cleaning gun (which is supposed to kill bacteria and virus at much higher rates than the average cleaning by custodians). I also worked with the director of the microbiology lab testing and identifying the different bacteria (and pathogens) that grew on the plates.

My position involved working in the department that is responsible for handling communications, public affairs, and agency events/engagements. I was responsible for aiding in the planning and execution of"Expanding Horizons" workshops that are held throughout the United States for small- and medium-sized business owners interested in emerging markets overseas. My duties included contacting event partners, preparing event materials for distribution, and social media advertising. Additionally, I provided media presentations for OPIC representatives, including marketing videos as well as visual presentations for the Rio+20 United Nations conference on sustainable development. During my time at the agency, I analyzed OPIC's involvement with each U.S. state and summarized the information into sheets that are used agency-wide. Finally, I aided in our Congressional relations division by arranging district office meetings as well as providing preparation materials for use by OPIC's President for her testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The experience was absolutely incredible since I learned so much about the field of international development. I also learned a great deal within the area of public relations, which has had a great impact on my future career search. It was also extremely enjoyable working for OPIC due to the events that I was able to attend (including speeches by Secretary Hillary Clinton and Dr. Jim Kim, the President of the World Bank). Working with OPIC also allowed for me to attend some more “casual” events such as joining the agency’s softball team as well as taking a trip over to the White House for a few rounds of bowling. Although I was rather productive the entire summer, I had an absolutely incredible time with my internship. Being in Washington DC was certainly a wonderful choice and a magnificent experience.

Julia Pacilio

Major: Biology, Pre-Health

Internship: Akron Childrens' Hospital, Youngstown, OH

I did research for two mentors, Dr. Mary Costello and Dr. Elena Rossi. Every morning I would report to the hospital administration building where I would look through charts of patients who had received a CAT scan in 2011. I would organize the charts and would note ways to decrease radiation exposure in the emergency department. All of this work led to a presentation I presented to The Akron Children’s Hospital faculty at the end of the ten weeks. Along with the help of my mentors, I also wrote an abstract that they could present during Grand Rounds, a meeting in the hospital where all doctors get together and learn about improvements or changes made to the practice of medicine.

I facilitated various types of emotional therapy for pediatric cancer patients and survivors to help them cope with their difficult medical experiences and the long-term psychosocial effects of their disease. Iset up traditional outdoor camp activities, like horseback riding and fire-side chats, which incorporated the benefits of art, music, equine, social, and adventure therapy for these sick children. Because of my time with Camp Mak-A-Dream, I know that a medical staff and scientific treatments alone cannot fully heal someone who has or has had cancer. I would like to draw more attention to this issue and to encourage medical professionals to treat their patients as multidimensional, not just anatomical, beings by offering emotional support as well as physical healing during hospitalization.

The facility I interned is in the heart of thoroughbred country. I had the amazing experience of personally working on three Kentucky Derby horses as well as the number one ranked competitive carriage horse. Thesecond internship the Franklin Award enabled me to participate in was at the Animal Rescue League’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. I worked twenty hours a week and was responsible for everything from cleaning the runs, to medicating the animals, to preparing meals for any animal. I worked with all types of native Pennsylvanian wildlife. While I do not plan on directly working with wildlife in my own vet practice, the work with them this summer benefited me greatly. I had the opportunity to medically work on a large number of animals as well as get hands on experience of diagnosing the problem as well as administering medication to resistant animals.